“We were going quite well and completed two really tough sections,” Rod explains. “At the end, I heard that dreaded clickety click sound and sure enough the spokes had left the central hub – again – and on the other side rear wheel, the hub had cracked.

“We did a road-side change putting the Lada donuts back on the front and using the one and only 19″ spoked wheel that was any good to replace the wrecked left rear! With no reliable spare for the rear and no spare donut, we decided quite glumly that we had to take the motorway direct to the hotel thus leaving speed sections not done.

“To have a highway spare for the rear, we will see if we can weld up the best of the worse 19″ spoked wheels we have and, if push comes to shove, we can fit it on the front and continue a bit lopsided until we can find a solution.

“There is no way we are going to wimp out. Tomorrow, we will sign out at rally HQ and head for a tyre shop. We will take the donuts off the Lada wheels and fit 600 – 16 tyres and put them on the rear. That will gear us down somewhat but we estimate it will be perfect for the hill climbs. On the front, we will run the new 19″ tyres on the best of the rims we have left. We will weld one rim just to have a same size spare for the front. We will not have a spare for the rear but we will manage ok, fingers crossed!

“This will mean we are not out of it and will get to do the spaghetti road through the Swiss and Italian Alps.